Description (as provided by the applicant): For the past seventeen years, the annual Boston Bacterial Meeting (BBM) has brought together researchers in all areas of bacteriology from Boston, New England, and beyond. Its primary goals are to foster collaborations among New England-based microbiology laboratories, to give students and postdoctoral researchers opportunities to present their research and meet established professors, and to introduce new researchers to the Boston-region microbiology community. The nearly 500 participants each year represent over 100 academic and biotechnology institutions with research topics ranging from basic microbial physiology to infectious disease. The BBM achieves these goals through a broad topic range and a format that encourages interaction among participants. Uniquely for conferences of its size, only graduate students and post-docs give talks. For many young researchers, for whom major international meetings may not be an option, the meeting is a vital opportunity to practice scientific communication and to introduce themselves to the rich bacteriological research community that the conference draws upon for attendees. The two-day program features short oral presentations, two afternoon poster sessions, evening receptions, and a keynote lecture by a leading professor. Professors also moderate each session, participate in Q&A following talks, and attend the poster sessions and receptions. This emphasis on communication and interaction within the broad scope of microbiology is a major strength for advancing research in health care and infectious diseases. By bringing basic scientists into contact with medical microbiologists, the BBM fosters technology transfer between the basic and applied microbiology fields, thereby suggesting new and creative approaches to studying and managing infectious disease. Furthermore, by targeting young researchers, we believe that the conference presents a unique opportunity to seed new ideas amongst researchers who are just starting their careers, meaning that entire dissertations, postdoctoral projects, or labs may be set up around novel approaches to understanding the impact of microbes on human health. Public Health Relevance: The Boston Bacterial Meeting brings together microbiologists in the New England area to share their work and to learn from each other. By including both basic scientists and health-care researchers, and both young and established investigators, creative collaborations can emerge that produce new ideas for infectious disease treatment and prevention.